You can attend Morganza meeting

Locals can learn about updated federal plans to build the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection system and air their views at a meeting later this month.

Nikki BuskeyStaff Writer

Locals can learn about updated federal plans to build the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection system and air their views at a meeting later this month.Morganza is a system of levees, floodgates and a lock on the Houma Navigation Canal designed to protect Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes from storm flooding.Earlier this month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a draft plan for construction of the federal levee system.The report updated the project with more-strict post-Hurricane Katrina construction standards and increased its price from a projected $886 million in 2007 to $12.9 billion. State and local officials must come up with 35 percent of that cost, as much as $4.5 billion.A forum to provide an overview of the report and take public comments is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 31 at the Houma Municipal Auditorium, 880 Verret St.“If there is one single thing that is going to affect the future of this parish, it’s Morganza-to-the-Gulf,” said Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet.The study, launched after Congress authorized the project in 2007, was necessary because Morganza was going to exceed its then-projected cost by more than 20 percent. In addition, the project needed to be updated with newer levee-design standards enacted after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.Aside from the higher price tag, big changes also were made to the path of the levee system to protect more communities from storm surge.The updated project adds 36 additional miles of levees, extending the levee from U.S. 90 in Gibson to La. 1 in Lockport. Morganza will now include 98 miles of levees, a lock on the Houma Navigation Canal, 19 floodgates and 23 water-control structures.The western extension would follow the south side of Bayou Black Drive to Gibson. There also would be a new floodgate on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.The eastern extension will connect with south Lafourche’s Larose-to-Golden Meadow levee system below Cut Off. It would follow the path of that levee system to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, where a second floodgate would be built. The levee would then follow the eastern side of the Lafourche ridge up to Lockport. The community of Gheens would be left outside the system.Levees will be built up to 26.5 feet high, and flood-protection and water-control structures would be built up to 33 feet high, according to the report. Levee widths will range from 282 feet to 725 feet.Terrebonne Levee Director Reggie Dupre said it’s important for residents to understand the federal Morganza project and why it has changed. Understanding the changes shows why it was important for residents to pass a half-cent sales tax that will pay to build 10-foot levees and 18-foot floodgates along Morganza’s projected path. That won’t protect Terrebonne residents from all storms but would have prevented the flooding experienced during hurricanes Rita and Ike.“The project has changed in price over 1,000 percent since it was authorized five short years ago,” Dupre said. “Overall it shows we did make the right choice moving forward.”Local officials have said the project’s massive price tag makes it unlikely it will be built anytime soon, if at all.The current report is a draft version, Dupre said. Public comments will be considered before the corps issues a final version of the report, which should be finished this summer. That final report will be submitted to corps headquarters in Washington, D.C., where it must be approved by leadership. It must then be authorized by Congress.Dupre said the word from Washington is that there is interest in bringing a water projects bill before Congress this year. U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., told The Courier and Daily Comet earlier this month that his goal is to have Morganza included in that bill, called the Water Resources Development Act. Vitter is the top Republican on the Senate’s environmental committee that will oversee that bill.If Morganza is authorized, Congress must then approve the money to get the levee system built.Dupre said state and local officials are looking at other options to get work done on at least part of the levee project.He said the state is interested in moving ahead with work on a large lock planned for the Houma Navigation Canal. The Levee District also would like the corps to approve work on a replacement for the Humble Canal floodgate, one of the most-frequently used floodgates in the parish.The state and the Levee District are exploring alternate means of paying for the projects, including oil spill fines and offshore revenue that will be paid back to the state for restoration projects beginning in 2017.If you can’t make it to the meeting, written comments also can be submitted to Nathan Dayan, environmental manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, P.O. Box 60267, New Orleans, La., 70160-0267 or by email to morganza.comments@usace.army.mil.They can also be made by phone to 504-862-2530 or by fax to 504-862-2088. Comments will be accepted until Feb. 18.

Nikki Buskey can be reached at 857-2205 or nicole.buskey@houmatoday.com.